Lawsuits against skilled nursing and rehabilitation facilities seek damages for compensatory loss such as pain and suffering, increased cost of medical treatment, and wage loss. They may also seek punitive damages, which generally are awarded only for willful conduct that is deemed outrageous or egregious.

Health care providers should pay careful attention to the guidelines because of their impact on False Claims Act investigations, including violations under Stark Law and antikickback statutes. Providers undergoing such investigations can now expect increased pressure to present evidence of individual wrongdoing.

Currently, employees who make $455 a week, or $23,660 a year, are generally ineligible for overtime. The department sets the salary threshold for the white collar exemptions at the 40th percentile of weekly earnings for full-time salaried workers nationwide. When the final rule goes into effect in 2016, the salary threshold to qualify for overtime will rise to $970 per week, or $50,440 per year.

With increasing frequency, however, the government is pursuing medical necessity allegations in federal courts through the FCA, where the stakes are significantly higher, with the possibility of treble damages and civil penalties of up to $11,000 for each claim.

Today, an increasing number of hospice patients reside in nursing homes while they receive longer and more sustained care for chronic progressive diseases before they die, and this is a particularly problematic relationship, according to the Office of Inspector General (OIG). The skilled nursing center provides room, board, and care to the hospice beneficiary that is unrelated to the terminal illness.

To comply with the ADA and combat the potential for disruptive and expensive litigation, employers must engage in an individualized analysis of each request for accommodation by an employee with a disability and document each step of the way

Most employers are aware that pursuant to the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and many states’ laws, nonexempt employees who work more than 40 hours in a given week are entitled to overtime pay at a rate of time-and-one-half of their “regular rate of pay.”

Since 1974, individuals who are employed in “domestic service employment” to provide “companionship services” to the elderly or people with infirmities have been exempt from the minimum wage and overtime requirements of the FLSA.